Another Chance
by Dacheran
Summary: In Hell, Raditz had been training. He's been hearing of his brothers exploits and wants out, to meet him again. Will he make it? And if he does, what will he do?


**Disclaimer:** (ahem) I do not own DBZ, etc etc... for no profit.. etc. Like most fan fiction authors.

**Note- **being AU, I can do whatever I want. And because GT sucks, I'm going to ignore that it was ever supposed to even happen. And yeah, this chapters short. But it was going to be far shorter, andit was a good place to break. Thinking of switching to 17 for a bit next chapter, because he's cool. And yeah, he's in hell too, but I might settle him in a later story, or further down the line. Also, please forgive and correct me for any out of character-ness that might occur throughout the story. I haven't watched DBZ in nigh forever.

* * *

Hell sucked. 

The saiyan admitted it freely. He'd known it for a long time, but he couldn't think of anyway out. And the other inmates weren't good for much as it was.

He'd began cutting his hair shortly after he'd arrived here, like one of those pitiful weaklings of that planet is fool brother loved so much, but he'd discovered that long hair can be a disadvantage in a fight unless you outclass your opponent. Much as it shamed him to admit it, when he'd first arrived there were as many stronger than him as weaker.

He smirked as he pounded an indestructible wall as he trained. It sure wasn't true anymore.

Time was relative in Hell. The Home for Infinite Losers it was called, what a laugh. He sure didn't plan on staying a loser, but for that he had to keep training. He had no idea how long he'd been down here, but it had to have been a while. All he knew was that recently…_This_ saiyan reigned supreme. Well… undefeated. He grinned even wider, he bet he could likely crush even the Prince Vegeta now… and yet… there was one problem.

His brother.

Kakarot.

It didn't take a genius to tell that the twerp had increased in strength dramatically since he'd sacrificed himself to kill his own brother. Word spread around, especially in Hell where there was not much else to do. The traitorous runt seemed to have been back to life multiple times, and later even managed to draw the final round of the Other World Tournament.

It made him sick.

His brother was even weaker than himself when they'd both died. How had his power increased so magnificently? For that matter, how did he keep managing to come back to life? It must be those blasted Dragon Balls. Amazing that they actually worked… more than amazing, it was insane! And it was insane that his brother could do this so effortlessly! He mentally screamed as he pounded the wall even more furiously.

It was a relaxing action. With the rhythmic, unchanging, unthinking motion he could vent all the frustration he wanted; it would disperse throughout the stone until it vanished. After a few moments he slowed his breath, his heart rate, and calmed himself. Though he still felt his tail twitch irritably.

One thing he knew was that if he ever got out of here, which he would, somehow, he wouldn't make the same mistakes again. He swore.

Except figuring out what exactly his mistakes were was the problem. He realized, after a long period of bitter angst, that he'd been overconfident. He hadn't conceived that his soft little brother would care enough about his weak little adoptive planet to die for it. And he hadn't thought that his weakling brother could ever have even hoped of rescuing his nephew…

Too bad he'd been wrong.

It was amazing that the simple life forms of that planet were compatible with the superior saiyan DNA; it gave hope that perhaps the mighty race could be revived. But it was shocking that Kakarot felt so connected to them. He couldn't imagine his own father saving either him or Kakarot had one of them been kidnapped. But then again… he hadn't really known Bardock… neither he nor his brother had…

The saiyan warrior sighed and leaned against the wall he'd so recently been pummeling. There wasn't a dent in it. Sighing again he ran a bloody knuckled hand through his now shoulder-length spiky hair and smoothed it out. Just the fact that his knuckles were bloody spoke of how long and how hard he'd been training. But it would never be enough, could never be enough. He'd heard even that his brother, his own weakling little baby brother Kakarot, had become a Legendary Super Saiyan. It filled him with anger, made him extremely self-conscious… and at the same time he had… pride?

From his own family… came a super saiyan? His own younger brother none the less? It was amazing. His brother had brought honor to the family, in that at least. The black-haired warrior no longer hated him, but… but what? He flicked the air with his tail. He… just had to see him… his brother had changed yet again, he new, and he wanted to see how much. He wanted to see how such a low-class weakling could make so much improvement…

But for that… he had to get out of Hell. Home of Infinite Losers indeed. Fortunately he didn't plan on staying a loser forever…

With another manic grin he jumped up and punched the ground beneath him, creating a large half circle of a crater against the still indestructible wall. It was at least as deep as he was tall. Smirking he floated over to the edge as one of his many fellow denizens approached. Some fool who seemed to take it that it would be easier to get through eternity if he idolized the saiyan warrior. His name was unimportant. He was annoying.

"H-hey! Raditz! Didn't you say you'd help me get stronger?"

Raditz, yeah, a name he'd almost forgotten… he tried not to socialize too much down here. He actually hadn't said any such thing about training anyone… but hey, what could it hurt? Not like he was short on time, thus the saiyan warrior replied bruskly:

"Hmph, whatever. I'll play along, let's go."

It was something to do.

* * *

Raditz winced in pain as he floated back to lie down at the crest of his newly formed crater. Unfortunately the pain was only mental, and thus not a sign that he'd been working hard. He hadn't thought anybody could have been as weak around hereas his self-proclaimed student. The blue-skinned horned creature had beenfar weaker than the Kakarot that had Raditz sent to this place. It was pitiful, that he should be forced to try to train one such as that. 

Of course, he ignored the fact that he'd willingly agreed and went through with it. Time had changed Raditz, whether he would admit it or not.

He didn't want to go to the place he called his home yet, but neither was he ready to punch the wall for another few hours. Perhaps if only there was someone to race, work on his speed, but from those he'd so far met, there weren't any denizens of hell worth talking to, much less training with. He only bothered working with that other guy simply out of pity, hey; maybe some of Raditz's raw skill and comparative intellect would rub off. It was definitely needed.

And so, he contented himself with lying at the crest of his newly formed crater. For the time being. A bit later perhaps he would go through some forms. He had decided that another part of his downfall came from relying too much on his raw ability, without technique. But then again, forms even were almost useless without a sparring partner. There was only so much a person could do alone.

Hmm… there was some sort of disturbance happening over to his left. Putting his back to his hole he sat up to get a look from a more natural angle. Looked like fighting. Not the wussy fighting that generally went on down here either, seemed like there were new inmates causing a ruckus.

And they seemed to be winning.

Unfortunately they didn't seem like his kind of people. He'd gotten comfortable here, despite his need to get out, and these folks were likely going to get security drawn even tighter. He knew he seemed like a bad guy, but Raditz was always the type to follow orders, and these rats were shaking the establishment.

Which is why he blasted off to have a 'chat' with them about it.

Or rather, he would have. But he stopped short, a good distance away. As he got closer the saiyan warrior realized to his chagrin, that he was definitely outnumbered. Not only that, he seemed like he might even be outclassed. At least at these numbers. Not that he could tell for certain without his scouter… but something in his gut told him to stay out of this. And he hated himself because he listened to it. What of his saiyan pride now? He comforted himself in the fact that he wouldn't run away, simply wait to think of a better plan. Even to himself it sounded hollow.

Suddenly one of the ogre's trying to control the situation broke free and started running for the cliffs. What was in the cliffs? Some way to call for back-up? Intrigued Raditz followed after, and he grinned when one of the rebels broke off to give chase as well.

Seemed like he would get his fight after all.

* * *

The ogre madly scrambled to get to the elevator; he had to tell his superiors what was going on. They'd know what to do. This new guy, Cell, was way too powerful! And some of the other powerful Losers were taking heart and joining his rebellion! It was not good… not good at all… 

He was almost to the elevator, his heart gave an elated shout; He'd made it! But then he felt a hand on his shoulder and gave a yelp as he turned to face…

* * *

It was Frieza. Raditz would have recognized that horned monster anywhere, and he felt his blood boil. This was the…_thing_ that had near enough enslaved his proud people for far too long. That they had become dependant on after their planet was destroyed. Merely seeing the beast filled him with rage. 

A small part of his mind wondered if he was strong enough to face Frieza, of all people. It was a cold hand of fear gripping his heart. But the majority of him didn't care, it shouted for revenge. He'd been training! Surely now he was strong enough! And his pride wouldn't let him do anything but listen to it.

As Frieza laughed, Raditz rushed in and grabbed his fist before the fiend could destroy the fool ogre in that smug way he always did. The pitiful creatures shoulder was already crushed.

Frieza looked up at him in anger and grinned.

"Oh, the monkey wants to play? Well let's play then!"

Raditz found himself in a short time propelled into the cliff-face by Frieza's powerful tail.

Grunting he peeled himself off and gave himself a shake. Frieza was toying with that fool ogre now, taking a lot of fun in the creature's misery. Blast it! Raditz still didn't seem strong enough. But yet again the saiyan warrior charged in, full on rushing the alien. He lasted a lot longer that time, and he thought at last he was beginning to push the fiend back when a powerful tail once again slammed him into the cliff face.

Frieza spoke:

"I tire of these games, monkey. Goodbye."

As Frieza pointed a finger at Raditz he suddenly wondered what would happen if he died while he was already dead? He knew one thing: He sure wasn't going to have to find out.

His body felt like it was on fire, he was sure to be covered in scrapes and bruises, and he felt like he had a few cracked ribs. Yet with a roar of rage, the saiyan charged forward with a surge of power that made him feel as if his body was going to tear itself apart. Frieza blinked and seemed shocked at the sudden speed his opponent put on. Raditz felt three out of an initial five hits connect, two punches and a kick to the gut. The last of one sent the monster flying. Raditz new it wouldn't be enough to put him out of commission… the saiyan just wasn't strong enough, and it burned him inside. But even this much left him wanting to collapse.

Hoping Frieza wouldn't be back for a while his legs wobbled as he made his way over to the ogre, who was now on his hands and knees and gasping. Looking down at the creature in disgust, Raditz none the less offered a hand in assistance. After standing the ogre leaned on him heavily panting. Not seeming to realize that he was being aided by one of the very people he was imprisoning, he directed Raditz over to the cliff face.

Something was weird about it, it looked like flat stone, but never the less he humored the pitiful creature he was aiding and walked up to the surface. There was a strange indentation… then Raditz realized something. The way the stone was shaped and the way the light fell on it was hiding something, perhaps an entrance to something, but what? Pushing aside some shrubbery, legs still shaking, and feeling like he could die any moment, the saiyan warrior grit his teeth and dragged in the barely conscious ogre hanging from his shoulder. He felt pitiful, after all that work still being hardly a match for Frieza. It was hardly a comfort to know that he'd managed to beat the dictator off… for now.

The weakling ogre dangling on his shoulder was saying something… and that's when Raditz noticed the door on the other side of the little cave he'd found himself in. It was built to look almost identical to the rock face, and wearily he trudged over to it, hardly managing to support his charge.

It had a simple handle, which opened easily, to reveal on the inside… an elevator? He wanted to collapse on the floor inside and let the ogre take care of things. He didn't really think much, except that they better at least let him out of hell for this. He had to get SOMETHING for his trouble. Chances are the fools would just give him a pat on the head and toss him back down though. Bah, who needs 'em. He'd find a way back to life one way or another. Back to Kakarot. Slowly, he dragged the weak wretch he had burdened himself with into the small room. With a shaking hand, he pressed an up arrow.

* * *

King Yamma's eyes narrowed at the now recovered saiyan warrior staring arrogantly up at him. This was quite against standard procedure, and he really didn't want to do it, but… 

"Well Raditz, thanks to you we were informed with enough time to contain the rebellion, and are now taking procedures to quell it. As you seem… mostly reformed, we're willing to grant you one request. Within reason, and our power."

Raditz's eyes widened. Could they mean… maybe…? He grunted. They'd better.

"What I want… is another chance. Life. I want to go back to…" He had no home left, which was a sad, if certain, fact. But didn't matter so much as… he barely contained a sneer as he spoke the next words, "…the planet earth." Where his brother lived.


End file.
